The Scotsman

The developer behind the controversial £180 million plans for Edinburgh's Old Town has claimed overwhelming public support for the scheme - as opposition from official watchdog groups grew. An opinion poll commissioned by the London-based Mountgrange from the leading polling agency Mori suggested that 79 per cent of people in the capital believed that the developer's plans would improve the historic neighbourhood. But Scotland's leading architectural organisations joined heritage watchdogs in protesting against the development, saying that it would ruin the character of the Royal Mile and Waverley Valley. Mountgrange plans a luxury hotel and conference centre, a new public square, offices, cafes, bars, restaurants and 300 homes. But a central part of the scheme involves knocking down two listed buildings and two blocks of 1930s tenements to make way for a new road linking the Royal Mile with Waverley station.